Naoko, the heroine of Kenta Ikeda’s Strangers, says she’s been pretending all her life. She’s been pretending to be what everyone wanted her to without really knowing or thinking about what it was …
May 2, 2025 • Subscribe
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Review: Strangers When We Meet (2024)
Strangers When We Meet 朝云暮雨 China, 2024, colour, 1.85:1, 107 mins. Director: Zhang Guoli 张国立. Rating: 8/10. Fan Wei and Zhou Dongyu show terrific screen chemistry in this…
Talking To Strangers? More Like Theorizing About Strangers (DNF)
There is no talking to strangers in this book, but more theorizing about strangers.
Hitomi-chan is Shy with Strangers
Calling it "Hitomi-chan was Briefly Shy with Strangers" wouldn't have been as catchy, I assume. 4:33 - Hitomi-chan is Shy with Strangers 28:15 - Undead Unluck 96 35:24 - Edens Zero…
Who Are The Strangers From Hell?
Strangers from Hell, or Taineun Jiokida [ 타인은 지옥이다] is a 2019 Kdrama. It is a live adaptation of a webtoon sharing the same name. This is a…
The Best of Japanese SF Comics: Fukui Kenta (ed.)
In case it wasn’t obvious, I am a pretty big fan of science fiction. Thanks to a science-fiction loving dad, I grew up reading the stuff, and while…
Jujutsu Kaisen – 43 – Harder to Be Strangers
Outside the veil, outside of immediate danger, an injured Nitta insists that Nobara heed Nanami’s words and stay put. But Nobara was never one to stay away from…
Chihayafuru S3 – 08 [As Friends and Strangers]
Last week I labeled Mizusawa’s class trip an obvious maneuver to isolate Chihaya from the rest of her Class A rivals. To the show’s credit, though, it made…
Psycho Pass s3 ep6 – Friends and Strangers
Hello everyone. Please bear with me this week. I am still in the midst of a huge cold and even watching Psycho Pass was a bit of a…
Kenta Dedachi’s SHUNRAN sweeps you away like a Spring Storm.
Ever since I heard Kenta Dedachi on his track Goldfish, he immediately impressed me with how he was able to pair his velvety voice with addictively easy to…
Char Aznable Pia Mook – Interview with Shūichi Ikeda
The following is a translation of the interview with Shūichi Ikeda from the Char Aznable Pia Mook, published by Pia (ぴあ) in 2020. The existence of Gundam has…
Talking to Strangers – A guide on our mistakes
Hey guys what is up welcome back to my blog I’m so thankful that you guys took the time out of your day to read my blog post.…
Hitomi-chan is Shy With Strangers GN 1
Done well, I do very much enjoy the soft boy/wild girl dynamic, but so few of them seem to hit the mark I feel like I'm gambling my…
HITOMI – CHAN IS SHY WITH STRANGERS – Manga Review
This review might contain SLIGHT SPOILERS from the manga. QUICK SUMMARY : One day an ordinary 2nd year high-schooler named Usami Yuu accidentally encounters Takano Hitomi, a big…
Mermaid Legend (人魚伝説, Toshiharu Ikeda, 1984)
When her husband is murdered by shady businessmen and she’s framed for the crime, a wife plots bloody revenge in Toshiharu Ikeda’s supernaturally charged thriller.
Transmasculinity and queer sexuality in the works of Ikeda Riyoko
Unlike many other gender-bending stories of the time, which often fall back on a “born in the wrong body” story, or a Mulan-style passing narrative, Ikeda acknowledges a…
The Anti-Social Geniuses Check Out Chapter 1 of Kenta Shinohara’s WITCH WATCH
The creator of Sket Dance and Astra Lost in Space is starting a new JUMP manga, which leads the Anti-Social Geniuses to check out WITCH WATCH!
Hitchhiking in Japan: Sado Island and The Kindness of Strangers
Off the coast of Niigata Prefecture, two foreigners explore Sado Island in the company of strangers.
Akujo Seisho /A Cursed Girl’s Bible by Ikeda Etsuko / Maki Miyako
Maki Miyako was another name I got from the seminar about shoujo manga that I watched. She is apparently one of the earliest female manga artists. The only…
Ep 87: The Rose of Versailles Vol. 1, by Riyoko Ikeda
One of the great classic shojo manga is finally available in English, Riyoko Ikeda's Rose of Versailles, and the Mangasplaining team dig in to see if it...
PODCAST: Ep. 87 - Rose of Versailles Vol. 1, by Riyoko Ikeda
God Save The Queen, We Mean It, Man.
Manga Review | Kabukicho Bad Trip: Ikeda and Rio by Eiji Nagisa
Ikeda is the manager of a cafe. Though he comes off as lighthearted and kind at work, beneath the surface is someone haunted by his past. Ikeda is…
Town Without Sea (夏、至るころ, Elaiza Ikeda, 2020)
Filled with adolescent anxiety, a lost young man begins to discover the confidence to fly far from home in Elaiza Ikeda’s beautifully drawn Kyushu coming-of-age tale
Drift dreamily with Kenta Dedachi like a Goldfish without a care in the world.
Kenta Dedachi’s new track Goldfish has a magical, mesmeric quality. With its dreamy, muted, mellow tones, it made me feel as though I was submerged and sheltered from…
Spiraken Manga Review Ep 454: Hitomi-Chan Is Shy With Strangers
In this shy episode, Xan reviews a school life, slice of life manga about a normal guy who has to help a shy girl become more social. So…
Scent of a Spell (魔性の香り, Toshiharu Ikeda, 1985)
After falling in love with a woman he saved from drowning, a conflicted reporter worries she’s not all she seems in Toshiharu Ikeda’s noirish romance.
Where in the World is Ikeda Daisaku, Soka Gakkai’s Long-Missing Leader?
Ikeda Daisaku, one of the most powerful political fixers and religious leaders in Japan, hasn’t been seen in public since 2010. Where is he?
Hitomi-chan is Shy With Strangers (Volume 1) – Big, Busty, and Bashful
Yuu Usami was on his way to school when a strange girl started chasing him. It turned out she was new to the area and recognised his uniform.…
Interview: Director Kumiko Habara & Scenario Writer Kenta Ihara on Bringing History to Life in Blue Miburo
Hot off its world premiere at Anime Expo, we sat down with Blue Miburo's director and screenwriter about bringing the Shinsen-gumi to life.
A-Yokai-A-Day: The Illness of Lord Ikeda Sanzaemon of Harima Province
Tonight's story is based on events that took place in 1611 in one of the most haunted locations in Japan: Himeji Castle. But first, two vocabulary words that…
When I Fell into the Stars: A Tribute to Ikeda Masako and Maetel
Ikeda Masako, the voice of one of my all-time favorite anime characters in her long-time role as Maetel from Galaxy Express 999, passed away earlier this month. It…
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Strangers 人知れず Director: Sae Suzuki [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]
Strangers 人知れず Director: Sae Suzuki [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022] is an effective look at how people can explore thorny issues such as sexual harassment and discrimination in…
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An Interview with Sae Suzuki, Director of Strangers [Osaka Asian Film Festival 2022]
STRANGERS tackles gender discrimination and sexual harassment in a heartfelt and interesting way. Director Sae Suzuki talks about how she made it in an interview done in Japanese…
The Career of Masashi Ikeda, Anime's Most Successfully Incomplete Director (for TV, At Least)
What exactly constitutes being "successful" in something like anime, especially in being a director? Is it being in charge of an influential...
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Insomniacs After School (君は放課後インソムニア, Chihiro Ikeda, 2023) [Fantasia 2023]
Two teens begin to overcome their fears and anxieties after bonding over their shared insomnia in Chihiro Ikeda’s adaptation of the Makoto Ojiro manga.
Hitomi-chan is Shy With Strangers (Volume 2) – Scary on the Outside, Sweet on the Inside
After barely making it to school on time, Usa has decided to start running in the hopes of keeping up with Hitomi. She wants to come too and…
Family of Strangers (閉鎖病棟 それぞれの朝, Hideyuki Hirayama, 2019)
A collection of patients at a psychiatric clinic eventually find new strength to accept themselves through mutual solidarity Hirayama’s empathetic social drama
Mio Okido in conversation with Asato Ikeda: “Remembered Images Imagined (Hi)stories—Japan, East Asia, and I”
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Amalock (2024) review [OAFF 2024]
A narrative that fluidly combines comedy and tragedy to deliver an experience of smiles and tears.
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Belonging (2024) review [Japannual 2024]
Higashi delivers a touching exploration of love after death.
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Snowdrop (2024) review [OAFF 2024]
A complex character portrait that touchingly illustrates how easy it is to misrecognize the logic of the subject-supposed-to-be-in-need.
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Suton (2024) review [OAFF 2024]
Rikako Watanabe’s narrative succeeds to echo the unvocalized ‘pandemic’ truth of many.
The Blue Danube (きまじめ楽隊のぼんやり戦争, Akira Ikeda, 2021)
An earnest soldier begins to question everything he’s been told thanks to musical intervention and a curious young man in Akira Ikeda’s absurdist anti-war drama
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Blue Imagine (2024) review [OAFF 2024]
A powerful reminder of the sexual transgressions that structurally plague the Japanese film industry
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Wash Away (2024) review [OAFF 2024]
A pleasant narrative that offers a fresh but familiar exploration of the subject’s fundamental desire for recognition/love and the problematic yet medicative function of consumption.
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Sumiko 22 (2024) review [OAFF 2024]
A subtle but playful narrative about a subject who slowly tries to crawl out the hole of emptiness and diminished self-worth.
2024 plans.
(I didn’t even bother with a witty title for this post. Written hastily in less than 30 minutes…) Hi. So it’s almost 2024. And this blog has been…
2024 Outlook
Brief overview of what’s happening for this blog in 2024.
Farewell, 2024…
This post is brought you by Ave Mujica where this girls’ band from BanG Dream! will make its debut next year. This is a direct sequel to BanG…
Otakon 2024
I only bought two Lupin TV specials this year
2024 Retrospective
Ringing in the new year by taking one last look at the old one. Here's to 2025! 5:42 - 2024 Recommendations 5:48 - The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really,…
Chainsaw Man, The Elusive Samurai, Black Clover, Green Green, My Hero Academia